Munich provocateur: Oberland only "leisure enclosure"

Created: 06/22/2022, 20:00

By: Josef Hornsteiner

The fun stops at tradition: panel discussion about Bavarian clichés with (from left) Enrico Corongiu, “Bumillo” and Thomas Kernert in the Posthotel in Mittenwald.

© Josef Hornsteiner

Tradition and customs - that's what the true Bavarian loves.

A Munich native with a High German accent can't do anything with it.

In Mittenwald, Thomas Kernert causes heads to shake with his theses.

Mittenwald

– Thomas Kernert has absolutely nothing to do with tradition and customs.

At least not with the Bavarian one.

For the 66-year-old, the rural people in the countryside "with their Dixie music, traditional costumes and beer" followed an arrogant and "errant self-image" that Bavarians "hardly lag behind".

The white-blue Disneyland, or "Panama-Bavaria", as the radio and book author provocatively calls it, annoys the people of Munich.

And the "costume of this cliché" was only designed by the CSU as a political marketing concept anyway.

Ironically, one offers the cheeky city dweller on Monday at the discussion evening in the Hotel Post slogan: Mittenwald's SPD mayor Enrico Corongiu.

I'm from Munich and not Bavarian

Author Thomas Kernert

With the novel “Dicke Lederhose.

The Bavarian Principle – An Attempt at an Explanation” had already caused a stir for Kernert when it was published in 2016.

The man with the white ponytail already embodies the alternative to the tradition-conscious Oberlandler simply through his mere appearance.

But how is it that a man from Munich shoots against his home country like this?

"I'm from Munich and not Bavarian," he emphasized at the beginning of the panel discussion.

The city dweller only sees the rural area as a “leisure enclosure”.

Where nature is beautiful and people look and talk funny.

Had invited to this evening under the motto "Mia san Mia!

Yes, who are you?“ the Georg von Vollmar Academy.

This facility is known to be close to the SPD and the red counterpart to the black Hanns Seidel Foundation.

And the evening turned out accordingly, moderated by cabaret artist "Bumillo" (Christian Bumeder).

Kernert's main target of his hostilities: Bavarian customs and the Christian Socialists.

Kernert didn't leave out any clichés in order to spread them out during the panel discussion and break them down into their individual parts.

"Panama-Bavaria" is the rural area in Bavaria because it reminds him of the children's book "Oh how beautiful is Panama", where a little tiger and a little bear want to go to Panama to be in the country of their dreams - what but in the end it's just an illusion.

This is how Kernert sees Bavaria: traditional costume, dance, music – everything is an illusion.

Those who uphold customs and tradition would merely simulate a world that does not exist.

With all his provocative perspective, however, Kernert failed to show alternatives that evening - for example, what would be better if there were no longer traditional costume clubs, mountain riflemen or Maschkera?

"The clichés are annoying," is the author's simple answer.

The discussion that Kernert initiated was reminiscent of the year 2015, not least for current reasons, when the G7 summit took place in Krün for the first time and locals in traditional costume welcomed Angela Merkel and Barack Obama with a white sausage breakfast at the Krün town hall square .

At that time, SPD and Greens politicians also accused the people of the Isar valley of merely fulfilling “Seppl clichés”.

Allegations that SPD mayor Enrico Corongiu doesn't want to put up with.

There is still real tradition in Mittenwald.

It doesn't matter whether it's district festivals, farmer's theatre, Maschkera - "everyone doesn't do it for the strangers, but mainly for themselves".

There was nothing played or artificial.

Just remember the first Corona year 2020, when, despite the empty streets, Maschkera played music out of the windows on Nonsensical Thursday - knowingly without an applauding audience.

Or the magnificent parade at the flag consecration ceremony of the Mittenwald mountain costumers last year, when there were also no tourists in town.

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Corongiu knows that in large parts of the world there is admiration for the living customs in the Isar valley and beyond.

"Of course, self-confidence increases." But that has nothing to do with arrogance.

Because self-confidence would only develop “if what you do is real and authentic”.